Rams run into a physical Blue Devils squad in loss

Badin battles, getting game-high 22 points from Korb, but is downed by solid Reading.

HAMILTON — Badin High School’s boys basketball team lost Round 1 to visiting Reading on Tuesday night.

Round 2? Might happen. Might not.

The Rams will need to beat Mariemont in the first round of the Division III tournament to get another crack at Reading, which outscored Badin 40-27 in the second half and rolled to a 60-49 triumph at Mulcahey Gym.

“If we play like we did in the first half, we can compete with them,” said Rams coach Nick Argentati, whose squad suffered its third straight defeat and fell to 10-9. “If we play like we did in the second half, we won’t get a chance to play them again. We’ll be done in the first game.”

The Blue Devils (15-4) responded forcefully after Alex Wendel’s late 3-pointer gave Badin a 22-20 edge at halftime.

Reading tallied 29 of the first 38 points in the second half, with Kyle Seeger tallying 12 of his 15 points in the fourth period.

“We didn’t show up when we needed to,” said Rams senior David Korb, who led all scorers with 22 points. “We get in rough patches and nobody wants to step up. That’s been our problem all year.”

Wendel had 11 points and Tyler Sanders added 10 for Badin, which committed 12 of its 16 turnovers after intermission.

The Blue Devils, riding an eight-game winning streak, got solid scoring from Devin Pike (12), Jake Overbeck (10), Matt Brinkman (8) and Taylor Estes (8).

“Part of the problem in the first half was that we had some things we didn’t want to show tonight, and I think our kids mistook that for not playing hard,” Reading coach Rich Bensman said. “For us, it comes down to playing hard and making cuts, and we did that in the second half. We cut better and moved with a purpose.”

The Blue Devils shot 50 percent from the floor, only slightly better than the hosts. The Rams hit 12-of-18 foul shots, yet all six misses came during Reading’s second-half surge.

“And they were responding with 3-pointers at the other end,” Argentati said. “They were still only up five going to the fourth quarter, but a five-point lead is like a 15-point lead against them. They just pass it around and wait for the open shot.”

Added Korb of the Blue Devils, who play in the Cincinnati Hills League, “They played like a (Greater Catholic League) team. They were physical, took care of the ball, played good defense and knocked down shots.”

Korb, Wendel and Morgan Reynolds all had four rebounds for the Rams. Heath Stricker added four assists.

Badin closes the regular season Friday at Roger Bacon.

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